Inquiry call over Purcell blackmail fears

The SNP has demanded a police investigation after Steven Purcell revealed that he feared being blackmailed by gangsters over a video showing him taking cocaine.

John Mason, the Nationalist MP, has written to Strathclyde Police renewing calls for an inquiry after the former leader of Glasgow City Council gave his first detailed account of the events that led to his apparent breakdown and resignation.

Mr Purcell, 37, once tipped as a future Labour First Minister, said it was the worry that such a video existed that led to him drinking heavily and becoming so depressed that he sought professional help.

In a newspaper interview published yesterday, Mr Purcell confirmed that officers from the Scottish Crime Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA) warned him last year that his